Cracked Ice
by Ereska
Summary: Laufey survives the events of 'Thor'. Stuck on Asgard until the Bifrost is repaired, he tries to deal with the aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: English is not my first language. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I've made. There will be spoilers for Thor 2 in the next two chapters.  
_

* * *

**Cracked Ice**

Laufey stared down into the unseeing eye of his greatest enemy, hand clasped around a blade of ice. _'Look at you now, mighty Odin.'_, he thought, _'So helpless! So vulnerable! Betrayed!'_

"It's said that you can still see and hear what transpires around you, even in this state" he said, "I hope it's true, so that you may know your death came by the hand of Laufey."

In fierce anticipation he raised the blade. _'For Jotunheim!'_

He never saw the blast of energy aimed at him from behind. Disoriented he found himself lying on the ground, without remembering how he had got there, and was dimly aware of a vaguely familiar voice saying, _"And your death came by the son of Odin."_

_'Tricked_', he realized. He had been tricked. Dully he watched as his companions fell to the power of Gungnir. _'No, not Helblindi...'_ he thought desperately, _'Please Great Mother... not my son!' _He was aware that he needed to get up, to fight, to do _something_, but his battered body would not respond. All he could do was watch as the trickster raised the spear again, pointing it directly at him, at the King of Jotunheim, who had so carelessly walked into his trap...

Then suddenly it was the green-clad would-be-king flying through the air as he was knocked out of the way by an object Laufey could not immediately identify. _'A hammer?'_ he wondered and his heart sank when he recognized the armoured figure in red stepping into the chamber. The other prince... that arrogant foolish boy who had not so long ago pranced into Jotunheim bustling for battle and glory. Surely he could not expect mercy from this quarter!

But to his great surprise the golden prince paid him no heed, trading angry words with his brother instead. Laufey did not really pay attention to what was being said, finding it hard enough to stay conscious. Though he did take notice when words became actual blows, culminating in the clashing of Gungnir and Mjölnir as the brothers began to fight each other. He briefly thought that he needed to get out of the way, but found that he could still not move. It didn't matter since the brothers were gone rather quickly, presumably taking their fighting elsewhere.

Laufey continued to lie semi-consciously on the floor, feeling strangely detached from everything. _'Should I not be in pain?_' he asked himself dreamily, _'Should I not feel anything?'_ Was this it? Was he fated to die in this place, so far from home?

The hem of a dress fell into his view and when he looked up with disoriented eyes, he found the Æsir Queen Frigga standing right in front of him, a sword clutched tightly in her grip. She was saying something to him rather angrily, but he could hardly make out the words and continued to stare stupidly at her. A moment later he noted that she was kneeling by his side, touching him, and wherever her expert hands trailed, feeling began to return. Pain to be exact, though any feeling was better than this terribly nothingness.

And then suddenly there was another kind of pain, a pain that came from within, from his connection to the land he called home, the connection that had been forged when he had accepted the throne. It was Jotunheim herself crying out, as she was being ripped apart, asking him to help her, begging him to stop whatever was happening to her. Yet all he could do was lie there helplessly, suffering, knowing that somewhere far away his homeworld was dying. He did not know that he was screaming, he was not aware that a cluster of people had formed around him, and he did not see as the sleeping enemy, he would have slain, awoke. Nothing mattered but _her_ and her pain. Failed. Oh how utterly he had failed as a king! He had led his people to their doom not once but twice and this time Death was coming for them all. Laufey welcomed his, longed to be released from this agony. _"And know that your death came by the son of Odin." _resounded the trickster's words in his mind. Behind his closed eyelids Jotunheim was burning.

Finally everything stopped as darkness took him.

* * *

He came back to himself in Asgard's healing rooms, healers tending to him. He had come very close to death they told him, and his weakened state was a testimony to that. The Jotnar were a sturdy people, very hard to kill, but whatever magic Gungnir had released had almost succeeded. _Had_ succeeded in the case of his son. Helblindi, his eldest, his heir... gone. As he slowly pierced together what had happened from the mouths of the healers and later from of the Allfather himself, Laufey began to realize what a heavy price he had paid - and how much worse it could have been.

He was treated with surprising civility by the Æsir for someone who had lead a hostile force into their home and had come close to slaying their leader. Though the healers and servants taking care of him were obviously reluctant to do so, they gave him all the courtesy and respect he deserved as a king, while he was recovering. Odin himself visited him only once to inform him of what had transpired after Laufey had been struck by Gungnir. The Allfather was civil enough, almost apologetic, giving no outward sign of wanting retribution, though Laufey thought he detected a certain wariness. He was sure sooner or later he would have to pay for his failed attempt on Odin's life. But for now everyone seemed happy to pretend it had never happened, and the King of Jotunheim had no intention of reminding them.

While Odin kept his distance, he had his son visit their invalid guest regularly. Laufey still felt ambivalent about prince Thor. It was hard to believe that he owed his life – his people's life – to Asgard's future king, the prince he had believed just to be a foolish arrogant boy who would rather kill them all. But he noted that the boy had changed. Apparently his attack on Jotunheim had not gone unpunished by the Allfather, as Laufey had presumed. Thor Odinson had been banished for a time without his powers, and returned just in time to stop his brother's madness. He had destroyed the Bifrost in doing so, virtually trapping Laufey on Asgard for now. As a consequence the king felt a strange mixture of gratitude and resentment towards the young Æsir.

Owing an enemy such a debt was rather vexing, but having to rely on said enemy's hospitality was even worse. When Laufey was recovered enough to leave the rooms of healing, he was given ample quarters in the palace, befitting for a king and guest of honor. He had expected a prison cell, but if the Allfather wanted to keep up this pretence, Laufey was certainly not going to complain. Weakened still, he was no longer a threat in any case, and there were guards to watch his every step, whenever he ventured out of his rooms. In the following weeks he tried to adapt to life on Asgard as best as he could, but found it difficult. It was so very different from home... almost unbearably hot where Jotunheim was freezing cold, blindingly bright where Jotunheim was soothing dark shadows, velvety soft where Jotunheim was hard, cutting ice. He knew he had no friends here. The Æsir treated him civilly, but were at best indifferent towards him, most of them barely hiding their fear and disdain.

Prince Thor alone seemed to be making an actual effort to be friendly, surprising Laufey more than once with questions about his homeworld and about the Jotnar. The boy seemed genuinely interested, which was most baffling. Whatever had happened during his exile, truly seemed to have changed him and his perceptions about the Frost Giants – and Laufey hoped to use this to Jotunheim's benefit. There could be no harm in indulging Thor's curiosity and if it made him more sympathetic to the Jotnars' cause, all the better. There was probably no chance of regaining the Casket while Odin ruled as king in Asgard, but the Allfather was an old man and would not continue do so for much longer. Being on good terms with Asgard's future king could certainly be no disadvantage.

And then there was the matter of the other prince... Loki, the trickster, the _betrayer_, who had been lost to the Void - or so Laufey was told. They said Loki had not been ready to be king, that the sudden burden of so much power and responsibility had gone to his head. "_Though he has always been a strange one, that Loki_," people whispered. "_No one could be sure, how long the madness had been simmering in him, just waiting to be pushed to the surface..." _

The Æsir all seemed rather horrified by what their younger prince had tried to do. As the affected party so was Laufey, but he could not honestly claim that he would have done differently if the situation had been reversed. From this point of view he could almost admire the trickster's scheme. Though of course it would not have been nearly as effective if Laufey himself hat not played so well into his hands. If he had not let himself be blinded by hate and desire for revenge, if he had not been so desperate as to grasp at straws - at any chance to regain the Casket of Ancient Winters - things would never have come to a head. He would not be trapped on a hostile world now, his people would not have been forced to suffer even more, and his son would still be alive. It would seem that he had learned nothing at all since he had plunged his people into that ill-conceived war with Asgard all those centuries ago, effectively damning his whole realm when the outcome had been the opposite of what he had intended. No, prince Loki might have played a part, but Laufey shouldered most of the blame for what had happened.

He did wonder however, whether there had been a personal vendetta on the part of the prince. Most would baulk at the idea of wiping out a whole people, even battle hardened soldiers. To actually go through with it, Laufey knew, a special kind of hate was required. But what had Jotunheim done to earn Loki's hatred? As far as he knew, the Æsir prince had never been to Laufey's home-world before arriving there in his brother's company. Surely that incident could not have been the reason! It was Jotunheim that had borne the brunt of the attack – to his knowledge there had been no consequences for the Æsir party other than the crown prince's banishment. Another matter was nagging him: There was something they were not telling him, and it had to do with Loki and with himself. He could not help but notice the look Thor involuntarily threw his way every time his brother's name came up, and how reversely Odin carefully avoided his gaze whenever his second son was mentioned.

After a while the mystery started to drive Laufey crazy. Or maybe it was the boredom. There was nothing to do for him on Asgard except brooding and mulling over things. Either way he was sick of being left in the dark, so the next time he talked to Thor, he subtly tried to steer the conversation towards the second prince. Subtlety was lost on the boy however, it was obvious that the Æsir didn't really want to talk about his brother. Laufey ended up asking outright what Thor thought had driven Loki to destroy Jotunheim.

"I don't know," Thor replied, but Laufey could tell he was lying. The prince was almost depressingly honest, always wearing his heart on his sleeve. Deception was simply not in his nature – the opposite of his brother.

"It has something to do with me, does it not?" Laufey pressed, "I am not a fool, you know!"

Thor defensively raised his hands. "I'm afraid, it is not my tale to tell," he said in an apologetic voice, and the King of Jotunheim quickly realized he would get nowhere here.

So he went to Odin. The Allfather was a thief and a liar, but all his actions towards Laufey lately bespoke a sense of guilt. Laufey was not above using that.

"There is something you are not telling me regarding your son Loki," he confronted the King of Asgard in his throne room, "I would know what it is you seek to hide from me!"

"Would you?" Odin replied, but there was no real force behind his voice and he looked weary to Laufey's eyes.

"I felt Jotunheim's life force dwindle away as she was being ripped apart! I heard the cries of my people as they were dying! You owe me answers, Allfather, and I will have them!"

And answers he finally got. He almost wished he hadn't.

Odin spoke of _that_ day, and Laufey remembered... the bitter taste of defeat still in his mouth... the humiliation, the pain and desperation as Jotunheims heart was taken away. But the Casket was not the only thing the Allfather took. He spoke of a temple and of a child he had found there and realization hit Laufey then. With disbelief he listened as Odin described how he had picked up the child and how it had changed in his hands, the boy's inherent magic turning Jotun-blue skin pink to match the Æsir who held him. Laufey had no doubt that Odin knew whose son he had found, that he had recognized the birth marks, and he wondered what the Allfather had hoped to gain from taking him with him and raising him as his own _and_ _never telling him of his true parentage_.

Odin claimed he had done it to protect the boy from the truth, that he had wanted him to feel no different, but Laufey privately thought the Æsir King had done it to protect himself, and successfully so. It was not his adoptive father Loki had tried to kill after uncovering the truth, not Asgard he had tried to destroy. What other lies would the Allfather have told the boy to ensure his loyalty? No doubt his enemy would have tried to form him into a weapon to one day wield against Jotunheim and her king. Only that the weapon he had created was too uncontrollable even for the Allfather, as volatile and destructive as the icy storms of the world that had birthed him.

Laufey listened to all that Odin had to say, his face an expressionless mask of ice, never showing what turmoil of feelings raged underneath, what anger, pain, bitterness the tale invoked in him. He listened silently and he remained silent when the Æsir had ended, finally turning around and leaving without a word, never letting his mask slip. If Odin hoped for his forgiveness, he would be disappointed. The Allfather had taken too much from him to ever be forgiven... this was just one more slight to add to the list. A very personal one.

_'Oh Farbauti,'_ he silently wailed, back in the refuge of his chambers, _'How glad I am you are not here to have to bear this pain!'_ It had been a long time since he had last thought of his mate, gone for many years... or of his first born, the tiny life given to Jotunheim and believed to be dead, just another thing he had lost that fateful day. To find out he had been alive all that time, in the hands of his greatest enemy...

He groaned quietly and rested his head in his hands. How he longed for home, for the cold silence of Jotunheim to soothe him, to guide him, to give him a measure of peace! Was he damned to pay for his mistakes forever? Were his people?

"Great Mother... why did you not stop the one eyed thief?" he whispered to the empty room. What Jotunheim took, she never let go... or so he had thought. Save apparently for one small boy full of magic.

* * *

Being separated from his realm became even more unbearable after Odin's revelation. Laufey could hardly feel his connection to her any more. The Bifrost was being repaired, he was told, but it would take longer than anticipated. In his desperation for news from home, he went to Heimdall, Asgard's guardian, who was said to be all-seeing. What he found out was troubling indeed. He was believed to be dead by most on Jotunheim. Býleistr, his last remaining son, had taken the throne in his absence, but he had never been prepared for that role and had trouble keeping control over the warring fractions in the realm. The king feared how much worse the conflict would become if he did not return soon.

And then more unsettling news reached Asgard via Heimdall: Loki was on Midgard – and war was following in his wake.

* * *

_There is going to be more Loki in chapter two._

_About Odin:  
My personal opinion of him isn't quite as bad as Laufey's, though watching Thor 2 hasn't really improved it, either. He's not neccessarily a bad guy - he's a king with a lot of power and responsibility, who has to put his realm's interests first. But for someone who is said to be oh so wise and all-seeing he has certainly made a lot of mistakes and keeps making them. Maybe he has ruled for so long that he's lost sight of what is important._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Every kind of feedback is greatly appreciated. If I haven't replied to your review yet, I'm going to do so in the next few days (provided you left a signed review)._ _A few spoilers for Thor: The Dark World in this chapter, but not many. Most of them will be in part three._

* * *

_'He is alive!'_ was Laufey's first astonished thought when he heard. No one had ever been known to come back from the Void, the timeless nothingness that kept the realms separated. How had he done it? What kind of amazing trick was this?

The fact that Loki intended to wage war on the humans of Midgard with an alien army, did not trouble Laufey nearly as much as it did the Æsir. _'Stepping into your sire's footsteps, are you boy?'_ he thought with some dark amusement and an odd ache in his heart. Maybe he would even be successful where the King of Jotunheim had failed. Without the Bifrost, Asgard was unable to interfere this time.

Though apparently there were other ways to reach the distant realm. In an incredible display of power, Odin sent his son Thor to Midgard himself, with instructions to bring both Loki and the power source known as the Tesseract back to Asgard. Wielding so much magic however weakened the Allfather, leaving him looking even older and more tired than before. He really had to be desperate to stop his adoptive son.

There was nothing to do for Laufey but wait. Frequently he went to see the construction site of the Bifrost, to check on the progress, which was still dismally slow. He continued to visit Heimdall for news from home, only now he was asking for news from Midgard, as well.

The situation on Jotunheim was still tense, and Laufey feared the outbreak of a civil war was imminent. It could mean the end of them all, dying people that the Jotnar already were, but it was hardly a surprising development, given their violent natures. Even at the best of times the king's control had been a fragile thing. Sometimes he wondered what had kept it all together for so long... his sheer desperation and ruthlessness maybe.

On Midgard Loki was apparently leading the humans on a merry chase. At one point he got himself captured, but escaped soon enough, leaving chaos and destruction in his wake. These days humans were said to be a more advanced race than all those centuries ago when the frost giants had tried to conquer them, yet they were faced with powers far greater that anything they had ever seen in their short lives. Laufey doubted they would prove a great challenge for Loki and his army, even with Thor backing them up.

But then there came the unbelievable news that Prince Thor and his human allies had gained a great victory over Loki and the Chitauri (and according to Heimdall, most of the credit didn't even go to Thor). The crown prince was expected back any day now, with his captive wayward brother and the Tesseract.

And Laufey did not know at all how he felt about that. Somehow it had been easier to accept the truth about his first born child when he had believed him dead. A dead man could do no more harm to his people, nor could he hate them. A dead man perhaps could even be forgiven, for he had already paid the ultimate price. Loki however was very much alive, and probably still full of hatred and desire to hurt the Jotnar, most of all the sire who had abandoned him as a babe. Neither could Laufey forget the feeling of helplessness of feeling his realm dying while life was about to leave his own body, lest alone forgive the trickster for it.

So when Thor and Loki returned, he fully intended to keep his distance. Whatever sentence the Allfather decreed as punishment for the prince's crimes, it was none of his business. He did not want to see his lost son again – only more heartbreak could come out of such an encounter.

However there was no getting away from the palace gossip, and soon he (and everyone else) knew that Loki had been sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in the dungeons. Laufey did his best to ignore this knowledge - yet found that he could not. Loki was on his mind whether he wanted it or not, even when not awake. His sleep was being plagued by nightmares, most of them featuring manic princes, dead worlds, and blue babies. And blood. Always blood for some reason. Blood on black ice, blood on dead blue skin, blood in the sunless sky... it was everywhere and he could never escape it.

His time on Asgard was coming to an end - with the Tesseract in the Æsirs' hands the Bifrost repairs were finally progressing. He was still expecting consequences for attempting to murder the Allfather in his sleep, so when Odin summoned him to a talk, Laufey went with some trepidation. As it turned out however, Odin only wanted to reinforce the old peace treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim, that had existed since the latter's defeat. The terms were as bad now as they had been then, but Laufey was in no position to renegotiate. Grudgingly he agreed, relieved that his people would have to pay no greater price for his folly. He was prepared to leave, never to return, and put this whole unfortunate business with Asgard behind him, including the son that was no longer his.

But then another rumour began to circulate the palace... that Odin had not just simply sentenced Loki, but had also _disowned_ him. It was said that he wasn't even really the Allfather's son, that he was only _adopted_. No wonder he had turned out the way he had! After all, bad blood would always show! Though nobody seemed to connect Laufey to the boy, therefore _that_ particular detail about his parentage had apparently not leaked out yet.

When the King of Jotunheim heard the rumour, he couldn't help but laugh. "If it is true, you are a fool, Odin." he muttered to himself. Loki had once held the lives of two kings in his hands. He could have chosen to kill them both if he so wanted, but he had only gone after his birth father, proving that he was Odin's in all but blood. Laufey doubted the Void had changed him so much that this was no longer true. What would the Allfather hope to accomplish with such an act, apart from driving the boy way? Did he expect Laufey to come forth and claim his disgraced offspring, to take him off Asgard's hands?

His curiosity got the better of him. On the eve before his departure to Jotunheim he found himself treading down the steps to the dungeons in the company of a guard, the Allfather's written permit clutched in his hands, doing what he had fully intended not to do. He wasn't even sure why.

It was not hard to discern Loki's cell. Where all the others were bare and devoid of anything, his contained a number of commodities so as to retain some modest luxury - and to show everyone that this prisoner was the son of a king (which he was either way, even if it was only a king of a dying world). There was of course also the cell's resident to set it apart. Such was his presence that Laufey's gaze was drawn to him even before he glimpsed the interior. Loki was lounging on the bed, his nose buried in a book. He did not appear to be aware of anything else around him, but after a moment he put the book away and gracefully got up, walking nonchalantly towards the glass that separated him from his visitor. The two of them eyed each other.

Nothing about Loki's appearance connected him to the Jotun child Laufey had once left at the temple. Outwardly he looked everything the Æsir prince he was pretending to be: pale skin, dark hair (few Jotnar actually had hair), sharp, intelligent, blue-green eyes. His height while average for an Æsir, would be considered small for a giant; some would even call him a runt (but really his shortness wasn't so surprising given Farbauti's lineage – and not unusual for a sorcerer, which he was said to be).

Loki's initial expression of surprise quickly changed into one of contempt, lips curled disdainfully, as he regarded his sire. "And here I hoped I had killed you." was his greeting.

Laufey carefully kept his expression blank. "It takes more than that to kill me." he said. Some had tried over the years, believing him fallen from grace after the Casket's loss or hoping to gain power through his death (both in a few cases). They had all been disabused of these notions. Jotunheim still needed Laufey. She would not abandon him so easily.

"I see you haven't come to join me." Loki remarked, taking note of the single guard in Laufey's company. The Allfather's generosity had not gone quite so far as to grant him complete privacy. No doubt every word between him and the prisoner would be reported back to the king. "Such irony," Loki mused, "The monster who would have seen Asgard's downfall is permitted to roam freely, while the one who would have been its saviour is locked away."

A sardonic laugh escaped Laufey. "What saving did Asgard need? Did you truly consider us a threat?"

"You did declare war on us." Loki pointed out.

"Empty words to appease my people. Without the Casket there is nothing we can actually do." And wasn't that a bitter truth! "But you are already aware of that, are you not? You knew exactly what to offer to ensnare me in your trap... the two things I desire most: the Casket and revenge."

"It was all too easy," Loki admitted with a careless shrug, "My plan was working perfectly and would have succeeded had not my brother interfered at the very last moment."

"Your brother," Laufey murmured, and for a strange confused moment he was not thinking of the thunderer but of Helblindi's empty eyes, the last he remembered of his son. There had been no way to return his dead body to Jotunheim – he was not sure how the Æsir had deposed of it, nor did he want to know.

A sour expression appeared on Loki's face. "Asgard's perfect golden prince. I'm sure you remember him."

So there was some resentment there. Laufey filed that information away. "Prince Thor is not easy to forget.", he remarked.

Loki snorted. "Yes, he certainly tends to leave an impression." He fixed Laufey with a shrewd glance. "Does it gall you? To owe a life debt to Asgard's crown prince? To your _enemy_?"

It did gall him, but the King of Jotunheim would never admit this. "I owe him much more than that", he said gravely, "Tell me, trickster, did you ever consider the consequences of your actions? Did you ever think of all the lives you were going to destroy? A whole people, a whole world..."

"A world of monsters!", Loki sneered, "One that will remain a threat to all realms for as long as it is allowed to exist! Why should I care about any of your kind, Jotun! Why should I regret what I have done? Do you think you can appeal to my _conscience_, my _humanity_? You who would go to even greater lengths to wipe Asgard off the World Tree?"

While Laufey had suspected this, it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Odin had really done a great job of poisoning Loki against his own people!

"No," he said, "I am not here to appeal to your _conscience_." There would be no point, for the boy probably had none.

"Why are you here then?" Loki demanded to know, "Do you wish to assure yourself that the evil prince is safely confined and won't try to murder you in the night? Have you come to taunt me? Or is it vengeance you want? I hope you are not expecting an apology! That would be a waste of both our time!"

Why had he come? Laufey still had no real answer. He considered the boy, his blood, his first-born, trying to find a trace of himself in him to no avail. _'We are both prepared to do all that is necessary.'_ a traitorous inner voice whispered, the part of him that had agreed with Loki's assessment that he wanted nothing more than to see Asgard annihilated. He quickly stamped it out. They were nothing alike! Still...

"I know the truth," he said at last.

"The truth about what?"

"About your parentage."

Loki stiffened, clenching his jaw and balling his hands into fists. There was an odd green glim in his eyes as he regarded Laufey. "The truth," he hissed, "So Odin has told you. I am sure it was an unpleasant surprise to find out that the undesired runt has somehow survived, nurtured by your enemy to be a thorn in your side!"

That stung, but Laufey tried to ignore it. "It is why you tried to kill me, isn't it?" he pressed instead, "Why you tried to kill us all. To rid yourself of what you must consider a tarnished bloodline, a family of monst..."

He stopped talking when a flash of green light erupted from Loki, smashing into the walls and furniture, breaking most of the latter into pieces. Suddenly he was very glad about the enchanted glass between them.

"Do not presume to know me or my motives!", Loki snarled, eyes shining madly, "You of all have no right to judge me!Any unfortunate connection between us was lost when you abandoned me to death! Having the same blood meant nothing then, therefore it does not mean anything now! You've seen what an asset I can be, so you come here, hoping to gain from this revelation, to use me against the Allfather as he would have used me against you. But I will be a pawn no longer, pushed around as others see fit! I will take what is owed to me and no one is going to stop me! No one else is going go _use _me for their own gain, least of all some monster who sired me by some cruel trick of the Norns! My fate is my own!"

Laufey stared at him silently. Strangely now he recognized himself in this haunted, beaten, angry creature. _'We are like cracked ice you and I,'_ he thought, _'damaged, but not yet broken.'_ However he could not afford to feel sorry for Loki. This was no son of his – the boy had made it more than clear - and he fully deserved whatever punishment was dealt to him.

"You also presume." he said in a low voice, "But you do not know me or my motives, either. What gain would I seek from you when you have brought me nothing but pain and distress? My son – who would have been your brother – is dead because of you. I nearly lost my life and my realm to your machinations. You are nothing but trouble, Loki Liesmith and I would sooner ally with a fire demon than ever rely on your assistance again!"

"So why are you here?" Loki asked coldly, "What do you seek?"

Laufey's fallen world flashed before his inner eye, now a gloomy wasteland of ice... dark and cold... lost. He remembered the temple, the fear, the desperation, the loss of innocence... death. And suddenly the answer came to him, for it was what he had been seeking all these years, ever since that day that brought ruin to everything he had held dear.

"Hope," he whispered, "I came seeking hope. Because you lived when you were not supposed to. Because you lived when everything else died." But there was no hope here. There was no hope anywhere. He slowly shook his head. "Coming here was a mistake."

Laufey didn't wait for a reply, he just turned around and left without another word. He never looked back.

* * *

_I'm not sure whether Odin disowning Loki is canon or not. Apparently he does so in the Dark World prelude comic, but not in the movie. So I included it as a rumour, and you can decide for yourself which version you prefer. _

_Both Loki and Laufey have given me some trouble in this chapter. They simply refused to cooperate, and it's totally their fault if some parts of their 'talk' seem forced. I think they would have been perfectly happy to pretend the other doesn't exist and to never see each other again. Alas, the plot demanded otherwise._


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the wait. RL has been keeping me busy. There are a number of spoilers for Thor: The Dark World in this chapter. You have been warned!_

* * *

It was a relief to be home, despite the chaos that awaited Laufey. As he had feared Býleistr had been unable to keep the peace, though he did not blame his son. The boy had done all that he could, however he had no experience when it came to ruling a kingdom. It was not a role he had ever been expected to play. Helblindi had been the heir, the future king, the one their father had prepared for this. Býleistr was an excellent warrior and would have been a great asset to his brother one day, but he had no mind for politics. Still, Laufey could at least have tried to teach him. He was ashamed to admit that he had neglected the education of his youngest son, and now he was paying for this carelessness.

The first few months after his return he spent on repairing the damage his absence had wrought and on reasserting himself as king. He travelled much, subduing rebelling lords and viewing the destruction wrought upon Jotunheim by the Bifrost. There wasn't much he could do about the latter, not without the Casket of Ancient Winters. Býleistr remained by his side most of the time. Laufey did his best to teach him, and ever the dutiful son Býleistr did his best to learn. Yet, every time the king compared him to Helblindi, to both his older brothers in fact, he seemed to fall short. Involuntarily his mind wandered back to the lost prince in Asgard's dungeons. A mind like Loki's would have made a fine king. If circumstances were different...

But no, it was pointless to think of what could have been. Indeed Laufey found himself wondering more and more often whether there was a point to _anything_. Jotunheim had survived Loki's assault, but for what? Was the slow death his realm was doomed to truly so much better? There was no future for them. Their world was slowly falling apart. A weak heir or a strong one – what difference did it make in the end? Death was coming for them all. They were fighting a lost battle.

Farbauti had known it long before him, he realized. People still spoke in hushed whispers of _'the madness of Farbauti'_ occasionally (though never in hearing distance of Laufey and his son). _'But it was not simple madness, my love, was it?'_, he thought as he looked over the desolate wasteland of ice, that had once been the thriving plains of Thrymheim, _'You saw clearer than anyone else what was to come and chose your own way out.' _Yet, Laufey was not like his mate, he was too stubborn to give in. A lost battle it might be, but he would fight it to the very end.

He was aware of the Convergence, the alignment of the realms, could feel it coming through his reawakened connection to Jotunheim. The king remembered his father's stories of the last one 5000 years ago, tales of dark elves, of battles fought to halt the end of the universe, and he knew how vulnerable the realms would be during the Convergence. However, there was nothing he could do. So he waited and listened and was inwardly relieved when the cosmic event passed without incident. Well... not completely. There was talk of an Æsir being spotted during the alignment fighting dark elves (the Æsir's description sounding suspiciously like Prince Thor), and of a Svellbeast vanishing without trace. Evidence that at least the rumours about dark elves were true was soon brought to Laufey in the form of dead bodies, the likes of which had not been seen on Jotunheim in living memory. How they could exist when their species had supposedly been extinct for millennia he did not know, but whatever the elves plan, nothing appeared to have come of it. The monotony of the struggle that was everyday life soon returned to the realm.

Then one day not long after the Convergence intelligence reached Laufey that the Bifrost had been activated. The Allfather was coming.

He sent his guards away. They would be no use against Odin, especially if his enemy had finally returned to his old self and was here for retribution. The King of Jotunheim had expected this day to come – the Allfather's uncharacteristic leniency had been rather suspicious – and he did not want any witnesses to his own humiliation.

Odin looked much better than the last time they had met, not nearly as old and tired as Laufey remembered. He strode into his hall like he owned the place, Gungnir in hand, emitting power and confidence.

"Allfather," Laufey greeted him from his throne of ice.

"Laufey", Odin returned and then they watched each other warily, like dogs circling each other before a fight, neither willing to make the first move.

Laufey was the one who gave in in the end. "Have you come here for revenge?" he sneered, "Do you intend to make me pay for what I attempted to do?" The Allfather didn't answer, so he continued, "I wonder what you will take though, as you have already taken everything from me. There's my life, I suppose, for all it is worth..."

"Loki is dead." Odin said quietly.

His words silenced Laufey. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. _'How?'_, he wanted to ask, _'Why?'_, but he did not say anything, tried instead to understand how he felt about these news. It was hard to believe when he pictured the boy he had last seen in his cell, full of fire, magic, and rage, so full of life. How could he be... _dead_? Strangely he felt a sting in his heart at the very thought. Loki wasn't his son, not truly, and yet...

"Does it make you happy?" Odin asked when he did not reply, watching him closely, "The one who nearly destroyed your realm, the one who nearly killed you is gone."

"Happy," Laufey spat and suddenly there was anger surging through him, fierce and terrible, "There has been no happiness for me in a very long time. Do you wish to mock me? Or do you expect me to thank you? You took my own flesh and blood and turned him against me! You forced him to become something he was never meant to be, playing with powers you could never understand! And when he proved to be too much for even you to control, you caged him like a beast! But it was not enough, was it? Tell me Allfather, how did he die? Did you put him down yourself, like a rabid dog?"

He did not know when he had got up and started to walk towards the Æsir king, but suddenly he found himself towering over him, trying to smother him with hate-filled red eyes alone.

Odin stood his ground, gazing at him, his single eye cold and calculating. "You claim to care about his welfare now? You left him to die when he was but a babe! Because he was a runt..."

"Do not presume to know me or my motives, Odin Borson!" Laufey hissed, echoing Loki's words to him in Asgard, "He was my first-born, my heir! Treasured from the moment he was born in the middle of a war. And despite the hardship he grew and flourished and he would have been king one day if the course of history had run differently. What does size matter to those who wield the power of magic, who can shift their shape and change their skin as easily as garments?" There was a slight twitch of Odin's lips at these words, though Laufey didn't see anything amusing about them. "He would have been the first sorcerer king and he would have been great! Returning him to Jotunheim was not a decision made lightly. But we were desperate! A sacrifice was all that could save us, so we offered the most precious thing we had... and yet it was not enough." Accusingly he stared at the Allfather. "Can you imagine, Odin, our pain when we realized... when we believed our child had died for _nothing_?" _'All because you took him!'_ he screamed inwardly, _'All because of you, meddling old fool!'_

He found he could not bear to look at Odin any longer, so he turned and stepped back to his throne, hoping to find comfort in the numbing touch of ice. "I grieved for him then," he said bitterly, "And despite everything I grieve for him now, and for all that could have been. I would rather I had never known of his survival. If revenge is what you sought, you have it. Now leave! Let me be!"

The Allfather did not move, he only looked at the king of Jotunheim thoughtfully. Then suddenly he was engulfed by a green shimmer and before Laufey's eyes a new form took shape. A very familiar form.

"Well, this has certainly been enlightening." Loki said with a grin.

Laufey could only stare. His mind was in turmoil, there was not a clear thought to be had, and his feelings seemed to be changing by the second... disbelief... relief... anger... indignation... Nothing seemed to make sense any more, though his mind was working feverishly to sort through the mess, leaving him with fragments of information: _trickster... shape shifter... sorcerer... not dead..._The first real thought that made it through the chaos into his consciousness was, _'I've been tricked again!'_

"So," Loki mused, "Not an unwanted runt you were trying to get rid of but a sacrifice for the _Greater Good_. That is hardly any better! Many would say there is no difference at all."

"And what do you think?" It wasn't what Laufey had wanted to say when he opened his mouth. He wanted to rage at the boy for making a fool out of him again, for lying to him, for making him _feel_. Yet the question slipped out before he could stop himself.

To his surprise Loki started to laugh. "You ask for _my_ opinion? My actions are all people have ever judged! No matter how good my intentions. No one cares for _reasons_!"

"You do," Laufey said softly.

"I do," Loki agreed, "Though if you are hoping for my forgiveness, I fear you will be waiting a very long time. Anyhow, you tried to kill me, I tried to kill you – by my estimation we are even."

"You certainly owe me for the prank you just pulled!" Laufey growled. But he thought that while it wasn't exactly a peace-offering, it was probably the best he could hope for with Loki. "There was no need for this disguise! As Odin of all people... how did you get Gungnir?" For the spear was definitely the real thing. He could feel the power in it, remembered all too well what it felt like to be on its receiving end.

Loki gave him another grin, feral and full of mischief, and he reminded Laufey so much of Farbauti in this moment that his heart nearly stopped. How had he never seen the similarities before?

"Ah... but to all intents and purposes I _am_ Odin!" the sorcerer smirked, "Loki died somewhere on Svartalfheim fighting dark elves... finding honourable death while protecting Prince Thor... redeeming himself in the process... it was all so very tragic and heroic!" he mocked.

"You took Odin's place?" Laufey asked disbelieving, "What happened to him?"

Loki smiled darkly. "Let us say he is taking an extended... _rest_."

Things were becoming clear to the King of Jotunheim. When he looked at Loki as he appeared before him now - elated, impish, carefree, so different from the angry, resentful man caged in the cells of Asgard – he had the thrilling notion that this was where the trickster belonged: at the very top, conning whole worlds, making everyone believe he was dead, while hiding right under their noses, effortlessly impersonating one of the most powerful beings in the nine realms. Laufey felt a strange mixture of awe, fear, and pride at the thought that he had somehow contributed to the creation of this creature, even if he could not claim him as his own, because Loki would never let anyone claim him. He was the wild spirit of Jotunheim in corporeal form, lethal, tantalising, and cold. Odin had never understood this, Laufey realized, had tried to change what should not be changed, had tried to tame what could never be tame, and in the end he had paid for his ignorance. It appeared Laufey had gotten his revenge on Odin after all.

He allowed himself a smile, matching Loki's. For an instance it was not so hard to believe them father and son.

But the moment passed, and Loki's expression grew serious. "To business," he announced, "As interesting and revealing as this visit has been, I am actually here as King of Asgard. It is my intention to forge a lasting peace between our realms."

"And how do you intend to do this?" Laufey asked curiously, "Blood of my blood you may be, but this fact alone won't be enough to stay my hand if ever the opportunity presents itself to reclaim what Jotunheim has lost."

"I am not so foolish as to think it would," Loki sneered, "No, I intend to make you an offer you cannot afford to refuse." He made a strange movement with his empty hand, the one that wasn't holding Gungnir, and suddenly it was no longer empty. Though the object that appeared in it was too heavy to hold in one hand, and Loki ended up cradling it in his arm instead.

But Laufey wasn't paying attention to that. He only had eyes for the object. So familiar it was, even though he had not laid eyes on it for more than a thousand years. It was a box, glowing blue because of the powers within, and it was calling to him, to Jotunheim. Never had he felt such longing!

"Is this..." he whispered, voice failing him.

"Yes," said Loki, who was beginning to transform before his eyes, green eyes turning red, pale Æsir skin turning blue, revealing ancient ancestral lines. If Laufey had still needed proof that Loki was indeed his offspring, he would have it now. "Do I have your attention?"

He simply nodded, still not trusting his voice. For the first time since it had been taken, the Casket of Ancient Winters was back on Jotunheim, and he could feel the land reacting to it, rejoicing in the return of her heart. It did not matter what Loki wanted, the king would give him anything just to keep the Casket here a little longer.

"I, Loki, King of Asgard, offer you, Laufey, King of Jotunheim, to return the Casket of Ancient Winters on the condition that it is never used against Asgard and her allies. If I return it, it is never to leave Jotunheim again."

Laufey exhaled sharply. "This is all?" he wanted to know, disbelieving, "This is your condition?"

"Well, did you expect me to demand blood sacrifices?" Loki asked sarcastically, "I can if you want. But you would have more experience with _sacrifices_, would you not?"

"Son..."

"_I am not your son!_" Loki shouted, belying the markings on his skin, "Let me make one thing clear! I am not returning the Casket out of some kind of filial duty or Norns forbid _love_. You and your kind mean nothing to me! I am doing this because _I can_, and because Odin never would!"

Revenge against his adoptive father was his motive then. Laufey could live with that, although there was a faint ache in his heart at the boy's words.

"I have no interest in this ice ball you call home," Loki continued, "I have no interest in your throne. I already have one! Please do not come to me if you are ever in need of an heir! After this I want nothing more to do with Jotunheim if I can avoid it. These are my terms. Take my offer or leave it! Either way I don't care."

Laufey looked at him as he stood there, blue-skinned and red-eyed and undeniably Jotun. _'You think you can buy yourself off with the Casket,'_ he thought, _'You think you can bribe Jotunheim into letting you go. But things are never so easy!'_

"I agree to your terms," he said, "As you knew I would... _son_. You can deny it all you want, but these ancestral lines do not lie. If you ever change your mind, Jotunheim will welcome you. You have returned our heart to us. You have returned our hope. Jotunheim knew what she did when she spared your life."

A conflicted expression sped over Loki's face, but it was gone in a moment to be replaced by an indifferent mask. "Very well then." Carefully he set the Casket on the ground. Laufey watched as his body reversed back to its Æsir form, only to be replaced by the image of the Allfather shortly after. "Know that if you betray me, there will be no mercy," Loki said in Odin's voice, "If you ever violate these terms, I will finish what I once started."

The King of Jotunheim tilted his head to indicate that he understood. His gaze followed the shape shifter's form as he retreated from Laufey's hall. It was a long time after Loki had left before he moved towards the Casket. He knelt down beside it, tentatively reaching out.

There it was! The song of snow and ice, that had not been heard on this world for so long! It was even more beautiful than he remembered. As the ice around him began to wake, Laufey wept.

* * *

_Not exactly a happy end, but this part still turned out lighter than I thought it would. I blame Loki who is still experiencing the exaltation of triumph and is therefore in a really good mood. Anyway, this story was never meant to have a happy end (the words 'Loki' and 'happy end' are probably not even compatible). However, I wanted there to be a chance for Jotunheim, because its story in the first film is such a sad one (despite not being destroyed)._

_Btw, this is the first story I've actually written in English (and not just translated), and it's all Loki's or rather Tom Hiddleston's fault. I've watched parts of the German dub of 'Thor', and while it isn't horrible, it's just not the same. There's no way to get that voice or that accent right in any language other than English. It's been an interesting experience though, so I'm not complaining._

_Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, or followed this story! :) I couldn't have done this without your encouragement._


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